(Mat Barrett/northeastNOW Staff)

By Mat Barrett

Mustangs fall to Ice Wolves

Mustangs can’t solve McGarva, fall to Ice Wolves

Dec 1, 2019 | 7:17 AM

After grabbing a 3-0 decision on Friday at home against the La Ronge Ice Wolves, the Melfort Mustangs fell to the same team by that same score the next night in La Ronge.

Mustangs Assistant Coach Trevor Logan said after Friday nights convincing win, the Ice Wolves came back hard on Saturday.

“We kind of knew what they were going to have tonight,” Logan said. “And we just needed a little more effort, a little more grit.”

The Mustangs and Ice Wolves played a very even first period, each firing 10 shots, and neither team scoring, even with two powerplays a side.

However, in the second, a Mustangs turnover less than a minute into the period gave Grant Longtin a partial break. His wrist shot beat Shawn Parkinson and made it 1-0. Melfort seemed to outplay the Ice Wolves for most of the period, but still couldn’t beat the Ice Wolves netminder Liam McGarva.

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Longtin added a shorthanded goal in the third to make it 2-0 and the hill even higher for the Mustangs. Even with plenty of pressure in the third, they couldn’t solve McGarva who stopped 38 shots in the win. Logan said they needed to make life more difficult for McGarva.

“Sometimes you’re not getting to the net and banging in on those rebounds, and getting some traffic in front and the tip or whatever you need to do,” he said. “He’s obviously a good goalie and if he’s seeing the puck he’s making those stops and not leaving a bunch in front. So, we have to get to those dirty areas more consistently.”

Daylon Mannon got credit for a strange empty net goal that saw a Mustang lose his footing and the puck slide into the empty cage.

Logan added that they did battle harder in the third, but just couldn’t get one to go in.

“I thought it was pretty good response from maybe not engaging as much in the first and second as maybe we should of been,” he said. “Third period, they came out and they went hard for a little while, we didn’t get the bounces and just couldn’t get one to go there.”

The Mustangs gets a couple days off before visiting the Melville Millionaires on Tuesday, Dec. 2.

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6